today, the senate is expected to vote on whether to move forward on chuck hagel's nomination as secretary of defense. >>> chicago voters in former congressman jesse jackson jr.'s district will brave the snow to cast their vote in today's special primary to replace him. >>> if the senate finance committee approves jack lew as the treasury secretary today a full senate vote could come as early as tomorrow. >>> on top of all that, could lawmakers prevent the sequester's $75 billion automatic spending cuts? nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. good morning to you. who feels those cuts first if congress fails to act, a lot of people are asking? >> reporter: a lot of people could. we're talking about heating assistance, food for new mothers being scaled back, fewer dollars for school construction, unemployment checks for long-term unemployed people could be cut back 10%. with all of that going on in washington, president obama is headed out of washington, headed south to newport news, virginia, where he'll speak at the business of a shipbuilder that has ties to jobs all over the country, u